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Casual Articles - Energizing Your Internal Audit Program
For most of us, we spend a huge proportion of our waking lives working. Unless you’re independently wealthy, this can’t be helped. But the day has long since past when we have to view our work as a necessary evil. If you’re committed to it, you really can find work that you enjoy, that fulfills you and that eliminates the dreaded Monday Blues forever.But how do you find that work? Well, the first thing to do is look at what you already enjoy doing outside of work. Is there a way for you to turn a hobby into a living? Can you envisage yourself doing that? Does the idea excite you?Some other questions to ask yourself: If you were independently wealthy but chose to work anyway, what would you choose to do? If you could wave a magic wand and be guaranteed success, what would you do? Reflecting on these questions can help spark some ideas to consider.However, when exploring new career directions you’ll also need to explore some deeper questions if you’re going to find job satisfaction that will last past the novelty of the new. If you’re not honouring your personal values in your day to day work, you will have a gnawing sense of dissatisfaction, eventhough you may not be able to pinpoint the reason for it.Sometimes, it is not the job that is wrong for you, but the environment, people and culture in the place where you’re doing it. When you’re clear on what your values are you can decide if the changes you need are more environmental or if a total career change might indeed be required.Maybe the problem is that you don’t feel fulfilled. You might be thinking you’d like to make a meaningful contribution, but again you can’t clarify in your mind exactly what kind of contribution that needs to be. We each have a purpose in life, though somehow only a lucky few of us have always known what that is. Some of us stumble upon it and more of us find it through a deliberate process of self-discovery. Sadly, some never do discover it and meander through li
Control of documents
Control of records
Internal Audits
Control of nonconforming product
Corrective action
Preventive action
Since the ISO 9001:2000 standard requires less documentation than previous versions of ISO 9000, there may not be as many procedures to evaluate. In this case the document review portion will be reduced. During the document review of the manual and procedures your are trying to understand the process and the system and ensure the requirements of the standard are met.
4. Identify Process Interfaces
Process interfaces are the “hand off” points from one process to another. This is where the previous process in providing an input to the audited process and the audited process is providing input to another process. How are process interfaces different from inputs and outputs? An input is the deliverable the process uses and the process interface describes how and when the deliverable is achieved. For example, an input into the purchasing process is the requirements of the purchased item. Looking at the process interface we want to understand how are the requirements delivered to the purchasing process, when are they delivered and by whom? In essence we are not looking at do the requirements exist, but are they clearly defined and understood by the process using them. We want to investigate are the requirements delivered on time and are they accurate?
On the output side, we will look at those things the purchasing process provides to other processes. Clearly one out
I am frequently asked about the questions that people contemplating buying a franchise should ask of the current Franchisees. This is such a common request that I have added an appendix to my book, Real World Franchising, with a questionnaire designed to ensure you get the full picture.However to give you an idea of the sort of questions that must be asked, I've included a selection of the questions here:2) Is your background useful in running the franchise ? Yes/NoIf Yes what is your background?....................................................................................4) Did the training cover all aspects of running the business?Yes/NoSubsequently do you think the training was enough to get you started?Yes/No5) How did you find the support you got from the Franchisor during the initial stages of the FranchiseGood/Indifferent/Bad7) What aspect of the job do you like least. How much of your time is spent doing this aspect?.....................................................................12) Have you incurred any significant overspends on costs?Yes/No13) What areas have been significantly overspent?...............................10) Which Franchisees do you think are the ones who I should definitely talk to?...................................................................................Perhaps you will excuse me if I don't republish the list in full. I have left out some questions that I do think are important. However you will notice that the last question is out of order. To give you some more value I'd like to explain the reasoning behind that question.In a franchise system where the franchisees are not happy they are also frequently unable to risk 'sticking their head above the parapet'. However they do know that they would feel guilty if they didn't tell you something of the issues. Therefore they will frequently point you in the direction of
The key to an effective, thorough and value added internal audit is in the preparation. If internal auditors are spending one to two hours preparing for an internal audit, it is not enough time. To properly prepare for an audit, it should take twice to three times that. If the actual audit time will take an hour, there should be at between two and three hours spent in preparation. A good rule of thumb to spend about two and half times as much time in preparation as the audit will take. Often times, auditors plan for a two hour internal audit and spend 1 hour preparing which leads to them running out of questions about 30 minutes into the audit. I can’t stress this enough if you want to be a successful internal auditor or manage a successful internal audit program then make certain you spend adequate time in preparation for the audit.
This sounds easy, but it is actually very difficult. The major obstacles to allocating enough time for preparation are time restrictions placed on the internal auditors. Chances are they have other responsibilities aside from internal auditing that compete for their precious time. One method to help remove that obstacle is to have as many trained internal auditors as possible to spread the work load.
Effective planning for an internal audit requires following a few simple steps that are listed below.
1. Learn the process (turtle diagram)
2. Identify the interfaces with the standard
3. Document review (compliance to standard)
4. Identify process interfaces
5. Identify potential process failure modes (pFMEA)
6. Value stream map process to breakdown activities
7. Review old audits
8. Develop audit questions
9. Develop audit plan.
1. Learn the process
Before you can audit a process you must become familiar with it. You need to learn how it is supposed to work, what it supposed to do, what are the inputs, outputs, activities, resources and controls. The first step would be to create a turtle diagram of the process (This may have already been done by the organization as part of their documentation, or in previous audits). A turtle diagram looks at the suppliers, inputs, activities, controls, resources, outputs, and customers. A turtle diagram is laid out such that the process activity is a box in the middle, the inputs come in from the left and outputs exit from the right of the box. The supplier is listed in the upper left hand corner and the customer is listed in the upper right hand corner. The controls are above the process activity and the resources are below the process activity. The feedback loop is an arrow from the output to the input. Let’s do an example of a turtle diagram for a process. For this example, the process will be one that applies to about every business in some way and that’s purchasing.
Inputs:
This is what the process needs for the activity. It can be in the form of information or a product. For this example the inputs are: Demand (what is driving the purchase), Quantity, Type, Specifications and Requirements, Due date and Budget (how much can be spent).
Supplier:
This is who is supplying the inputs to the process. The supplier can supply information or a material product. For our example the supplier would be whoever is specifying what to purchase, when to purchase and how many to purchase.
Process Activity:
This is the process. There are a number of associated tasks contributing to the process. For our example the process activity is purchasing
Outputs:
This is the result of the process. It can be information, energy or material. In our example the output of the purchasing process is the desired product or service delivered when needed. For our example it could be a product like a computer or piece of test equipment. It could be information such as a failure analysis, training materials, book or manual. It could also be a service such as mowing the grass, doing the laundry or processing payroll.
Controls:
These are the items that regulate the rate at which inputs are converted to outputs. Without controls, the process would operate continuously generating the output. The controls for our example could be the material requirements planning software, the purchase requisition approval process and inventory analysis.
Resources:
These are the items used or consumed in the process activity. It could be people’s time, machine time or money. For our example, the resources would be the buyer or purchasing agent, money, the representative for the company supplying the product or service and possibly other support functions who have input for the purchase. Additional resources are in the form of computers, material planning software, phones, fax, office space, etc.
Customer:
The customer is the group that takes the output and uses it. It is most likely used as an input to another process or as a resource.
Feedback Loop:
This is the mechanism used to monitor the process. What metric is used to tell the process owner how the process is performing and when action needs to be taken to correct it. For a purchasing process it could be supplier performance, dollars spent, on-time delivery or receiving inspection information.
2. Identify the Interfaces to the Standard
The interfaces are the points where the process intersects the standard. In simple terms it is where the requirements of the ISO 9001:2000 standard are applicable to the process being audited. The easiest way to accomplish this is to use a matrix with the elements of the standard on one axis and the process name on the other.
To better discern the interfaces of the process to the standard you could break the elements down into the sub elements. For example, 7.2 Customer Related Processes is comprised of 7.2.1 Determination of requirements related to the product, 7.2.2 Review of requirements related to the product and 7.2.3 Customer communication. The left side of the matrix would become larger, but you would have a more definitive intersection of the process and standard. This activity provides you with the understanding of what areas of the standard apply to the process. You will be developing questions to ensure compliance to the standard and this tells you what areas of the standard to focus on.
3. Document Review
The document review section requires reading and understanding the associated documentation for the process you are auditing. Start with the level 1 document, the quality manual. The quality manual should provide an overview of the process and should describe how the process fits into the overall quality system. The quality manual will explain what processes feed the process you are auditing and what processes are supported by it. It will describe the interaction and interrelationship of processes within the quality system.
The main output from the review of the quality manual will be an understanding of all the processes that make up the quality system and how they interact. The quality manual should provide a good description of how the processes work.
Next, review the level 2 documentation or procedures. Procedures should describe the process in more detail than the quality manual. There could be many procedures outlining the quality system, or there could be the minimum required by the ISO 9001:2000 standard, six. The six required procedures are:
Control of documents
Control of records
Internal Audits
Control of nonconforming product
Corrective action
Preventive action
Since the ISO 9001:2000 standard requires less documentation than previous versions of ISO 9000, there may not be as many procedures to evaluate. In this case the document review portion will be reduced. During the document review of the manual and procedures your are trying to understand the process and the system and ensure the requirements of the standard are met.
4. Identify Process Interfaces
Process interfaces are the “hand off” points from one process to another. This is where the previous process in providing an input to the audited process and the audited process is providing input to another process. How are process interfaces different from inputs and outputs? An input is the deliverable the process uses and the process interface describes how and when the deliverable is achieved. For example, an input into the purchasing process is the requirements of the purchased item. Looking at the process interface we want to understand how are the requirements delivered to the purchasing process, when are they delivered and by whom? In essence we are not looking at do the requirements exist, but are they clearly defined and understood by the process using them. We want to investigate are the requirements delivered on time and are they accurate?
On the output side, we will look at those things the purchasing process provides to other processes. Clearly one outp
Do you hate your job? Are you dragging yourself into the office each morning? Do you feel like you are just going through the motions? And wish that you could be anywhere else?Be careful if this sounds like you, you could be heading for the sack. Take our CareersCoach/She said quiz to find out if you are heading for the sack.My Work Hours a.I am the first to arrive and the last to leave b.I am good at managing my time so don’t need to work excessive hours, however when necessary I work back c.I am the last to arrive and the first to leaveOffice Gossip a.I make a point of never gossiping, I hate gossip because it causes so many negatives in the workplace b.I am on top of everything that is happening in the personal lives of people in the office. People regularly come to me for information, which I am happy to share. c.I love to gossip who doesn’t. But I try to keep my head down and mind my own businessOffice Romance a.I think that workplace flirting is harmless because it makes me want to look and do my best, so that I look good, which has got to be good for my career b.I would never flirt with anyone at or associated with work for any reason c.I have or would engage in a workplace relationship if the right opportunity aroseMy Boss a.What I think of my boss is of no consequence to my job. I follow their instructions and whenever possible add additional value. If I work really hard and deliver the right results I may end up being their boss. b.I don’t always agree with what my boss says or does but when they do something that I like I give positive feedback. I am hoping this will make them a more compatible boss for me. c.I can’t stand my boss, who is unprofessional, unorganized. I tell everyone who will listen that I cannot understand how he or she got the job.Dress a.I dress according to the dress code of the company because I believe that it is very important t
Inputs:
This is what the process needs for the activity. It can be in the form of information or a product. For this example the inputs are: Demand (what is driving the purchase), Quantity, Type, Specifications and Requirements, Due date and Budget (how much can be spent).
Supplier:
This is who is supplying the inputs to the process. The supplier can supply information or a material product. For our example the supplier would be whoever is specifying what to purchase, when to purchase and how many to purchase.
Process Activity:
This is the process. There are a number of associated tasks contributing to the process. For our example the process activity is purchasing
Outputs:
This is the result of the process. It can be information, energy or material. In our example the output of the purchasing process is the desired product or service delivered when needed. For our example it could be a product like a computer or piece of test equipment. It could be information such as a failure analysis, training materials, book or manual. It could also be a service such as mowing the grass, doing the laundry or processing payroll.
Controls:
These are the items that regulate the rate at which inputs are converted to outputs. Without controls, the process would operate continuously generating the output. The controls for our example could be the material requirements planning software, the purchase requisition approval process and inventory analysis.
Resources:
These are the items used or consumed in the process activity. It could be people’s time, machine time or money. For our example, the resources would be the buyer or purchasing agent, money, the representative for the company supplying the product or service and possibly other support functions who have input for the purchase. Additional resources are in the form of computers, material planning software, phones, fax, office space, etc.
Customer:
The customer is the group that takes the output and uses it. It is most likely used as an input to another process or as a resource.
Feedback Loop:
This is the mechanism used to monitor the process. What metric is used to tell the process owner how the process is performing and when action needs to be taken to correct it. For a purchasing process it could be supplier performance, dollars spent, on-time delivery or receiving inspection information.
2. Identify the Interfaces to the Standard
The interfaces are the points where the process intersects the standard. In simple terms it is where the requirements of the ISO 9001:2000 standard are applicable to the process being audited. The easiest way to accomplish this is to use a matrix with the elements of the standard on one axis and the process name on the other.
To better discern the interfaces of the process to the standard you could break the elements down into the sub elements. For example, 7.2 Customer Related Processes is comprised of 7.2.1 Determination of requirements related to the product, 7.2.2 Review of requirements related to the product and 7.2.3 Customer communication. The left side of the matrix would become larger, but you would have a more definitive intersection of the process and standard. This activity provides you with the understanding of what areas of the standard apply to the process. You will be developing questions to ensure compliance to the standard and this tells you what areas of the standard to focus on.
3. Document Review
The document review section requires reading and understanding the associated documentation for the process you are auditing. Start with the level 1 document, the quality manual. The quality manual should provide an overview of the process and should describe how the process fits into the overall quality system. The quality manual will explain what processes feed the process you are auditing and what processes are supported by it. It will describe the interaction and interrelationship of processes within the quality system.
The main output from the review of the quality manual will be an understanding of all the processes that make up the quality system and how they interact. The quality manual should provide a good description of how the processes work.
Next, review the level 2 documentation or procedures. Procedures should describe the process in more detail than the quality manual. There could be many procedures outlining the quality system, or there could be the minimum required by the ISO 9001:2000 standard, six. The six required procedures are:
Control of documents
Control of records
Internal Audits
Control of nonconforming product
Corrective action
Preventive action
Since the ISO 9001:2000 standard requires less documentation than previous versions of ISO 9000, there may not be as many procedures to evaluate. In this case the document review portion will be reduced. During the document review of the manual and procedures your are trying to understand the process and the system and ensure the requirements of the standard are met.
4. Identify Process Interfaces
Process interfaces are the “hand off” points from one process to another. This is where the previous process in providing an input to the audited process and the audited process is providing input to another process. How are process interfaces different from inputs and outputs? An input is the deliverable the process uses and the process interface describes how and when the deliverable is achieved. For example, an input into the purchasing process is the requirements of the purchased item. Looking at the process interface we want to understand how are the requirements delivered to the purchasing process, when are they delivered and by whom? In essence we are not looking at do the requirements exist, but are they clearly defined and understood by the process using them. We want to investigate are the requirements delivered on time and are they accurate?
On the output side, we will look at those things the purchasing process provides to other processes. Clearly one out
The dictionary defines logistics as ?The time related positioning of resources.? Hence, logistics can be considered as an implement for getting resources such as products, people, and services as and when they are needed. It is not easy to manufacture any product or promote it without proper logistical support. Business Logistics entails the amalgamation of information, conveyance, inventory, storing, handling of material, and packaging. The functional responsibility of logistics is the geographical relocation of resources, work in progression, and finish inventories at the lowest charge achievable. Hence, logistics involves creation of ?people systems? rather than ?machine systems?.Business logistics as a concept developed only in the 1950s. It was evolved because of the increased complication of supplying business ventures with materials and transportation of these finished products in a global chain of supply. This management is increasingly realized through experts in the field of business logistics. Logistics in business focuses on the flow either internally or externally of the business venture.The main task of a logistics manager involves procurement, transport, storage, and organizing the execution of these proceedings. Logistics managers have to typically merge a general awareness of each of these operations so that there is a coordination of resources in an organization.There are two essentially different forms of logistics. One optimizes a fixed flow of substance through a set of connections of transport links and storage space. The other form enables the synchronization of a series of the performing assets to carry out a specific venture.Effective business logistics augments the competitive position of a business. It contemplates the tools of logistics management but concentrates on the relationships that are required to be built through the supply chain to release the latent potential.The doctrine of business logistics can be
Controls:
These are the items that regulate the rate at which inputs are converted to outputs. Without controls, the process would operate continuously generating the output. The controls for our example could be the material requirements planning software, the purchase requisition approval process and inventory analysis.
Resources:
These are the items used or consumed in the process activity. It could be people’s time, machine time or money. For our example, the resources would be the buyer or purchasing agent, money, the representative for the company supplying the product or service and possibly other support functions who have input for the purchase. Additional resources are in the form of computers, material planning software, phones, fax, office space, etc.
Customer:
The customer is the group that takes the output and uses it. It is most likely used as an input to another process or as a resource.
Feedback Loop:
This is the mechanism used to monitor the process. What metric is used to tell the process owner how the process is performing and when action needs to be taken to correct it. For a purchasing process it could be supplier performance, dollars spent, on-time delivery or receiving inspection information.
2. Identify the Interfaces to the Standard
The interfaces are the points where the process intersects the standard. In simple terms it is where the requirements of the ISO 9001:2000 standard are applicable to the process being audited. The easiest way to accomplish this is to use a matrix with the elements of the standard on one axis and the process name on the other.
To better discern the interfaces of the process to the standard you could break the elements down into the sub elements. For example, 7.2 Customer Related Processes is comprised of 7.2.1 Determination of requirements related to the product, 7.2.2 Review of requirements related to the product and 7.2.3 Customer communication. The left side of the matrix would become larger, but you would have a more definitive intersection of the process and standard. This activity provides you with the understanding of what areas of the standard apply to the process. You will be developing questions to ensure compliance to the standard and this tells you what areas of the standard to focus on.
3. Document Review
The document review section requires reading and understanding the associated documentation for the process you are auditing. Start with the level 1 document, the quality manual. The quality manual should provide an overview of the process and should describe how the process fits into the overall quality system. The quality manual will explain what processes feed the process you are auditing and what processes are supported by it. It will describe the interaction and interrelationship of processes within the quality system.
The main output from the review of the quality manual will be an understanding of all the processes that make up the quality system and how they interact. The quality manual should provide a good description of how the processes work.
Next, review the level 2 documentation or procedures. Procedures should describe the process in more detail than the quality manual. There could be many procedures outlining the quality system, or there could be the minimum required by the ISO 9001:2000 standard, six. The six required procedures are:
Control of documents
Control of records
Internal Audits
Control of nonconforming product
Corrective action
Preventive action
Since the ISO 9001:2000 standard requires less documentation than previous versions of ISO 9000, there may not be as many procedures to evaluate. In this case the document review portion will be reduced. During the document review of the manual and procedures your are trying to understand the process and the system and ensure the requirements of the standard are met.
4. Identify Process Interfaces
Process interfaces are the “hand off” points from one process to another. This is where the previous process in providing an input to the audited process and the audited process is providing input to another process. How are process interfaces different from inputs and outputs? An input is the deliverable the process uses and the process interface describes how and when the deliverable is achieved. For example, an input into the purchasing process is the requirements of the purchased item. Looking at the process interface we want to understand how are the requirements delivered to the purchasing process, when are they delivered and by whom? In essence we are not looking at do the requirements exist, but are they clearly defined and understood by the process using them. We want to investigate are the requirements delivered on time and are they accurate?
On the output side, we will look at those things the purchasing process provides to other processes. Clearly one out
Sticking to fundamental business principles is the basis for successful career planning. To us this means that our customers are able to lock up job high-paying offers in as little as 14 days or less.Old-fashioned methods that require seemingly unending mailings and postings of resumes just don’t get it anymore. It can take weeks or months to achieve mediocre results.I recently had the good fortune to read an article about career success by Larry Thompson, a Hollywood producer. It struck me as a fabulous piece of career planning advice.Thompson reports that, in his experience, there are 10 success killers. As I read about them it occurred to me that they apply to job search success, as well. That’s because one of the key insights into alternative and non-traditional strategies is that employment success follows the same rules as business success.Here are the success killers you should avoid:1. Comparing yourself to someone else.2. Not facing your fears.3. Leaving a job undone.4. Feeling sorry for yourself.5. Failing to speak assertively.6. Dressing inappropriately.7. Saying you hate computers.8. Not taking advantage of advice from family, friends and mentors.9. Saying “I can’t.”10. Having more regrets than dreams.No one said finding a job is easy. However, most job hunters suffer from lack of results. It’s usually because they’ve taken the wrong approach. They can’t achieve fast and lucrative results by using last century methods.However, 21st Century strategies are exciting career planning alternatives to the old fashioned ways. Reviewing (and avoiding ) the 10 success killers is a terrific place to start to insure your job search success.
To better discern the interfaces of the process to the standard you could break the elements down into the sub elements. For example, 7.2 Customer Related Processes is comprised of 7.2.1 Determination of requirements related to the product, 7.2.2 Review of requirements related to the product and 7.2.3 Customer communication. The left side of the matrix would become larger, but you would have a more definitive intersection of the process and standard. This activity provides you with the understanding of what areas of the standard apply to the process. You will be developing questions to ensure compliance to the standard and this tells you what areas of the standard to focus on.
3. Document Review
The document review section requires reading and understanding the associated documentation for the process you are auditing. Start with the level 1 document, the quality manual. The quality manual should provide an overview of the process and should describe how the process fits into the overall quality system. The quality manual will explain what processes feed the process you are auditing and what processes are supported by it. It will describe the interaction and interrelationship of processes within the quality system.
The main output from the review of the quality manual will be an understanding of all the processes that make up the quality system and how they interact. The quality manual should provide a good description of how the processes work.
Next, review the level 2 documentation or procedures. Procedures should describe the process in more detail than the quality manual. There could be many procedures outlining the quality system, or there could be the minimum required by the ISO 9001:2000 standard, six. The six required procedures are:
Control of documents
Control of records
Internal Audits
Control of nonconforming product
Corrective action
Preventive action
Since the ISO 9001:2000 standard requires less documentation than previous versions of ISO 9000, there may not be as many procedures to evaluate. In this case the document review portion will be reduced. During the document review of the manual and procedures your are trying to understand the process and the system and ensure the requirements of the standard are met.
4. Identify Process Interfaces
Process interfaces are the “hand off” points from one process to another. This is where the previous process in providing an input to the audited process and the audited process is providing input to another process. How are process interfaces different from inputs and outputs? An input is the deliverable the process uses and the process interface describes how and when the deliverable is achieved. For example, an input into the purchasing process is the requirements of the purchased item. Looking at the process interface we want to understand how are the requirements delivered to the purchasing process, when are they delivered and by whom? In essence we are not looking at do the requirements exist, but are they clearly defined and understood by the process using them. We want to investigate are the requirements delivered on time and are they accurate?
On the output side, we will look at those things the purchasing process provides to other processes. Clearly one out
Managing a business is not as simple as one might think it is. As a matter of fact, in order for your business to succeed, one must exert extra effort. Also, you must always monitor the current condition of your business. In order to know how well your business is doing is by monitoring the monetary flow of your business. When we say "monetary flow" or more known by many as "cash flow", it represents the entire gross sales and revenues. Also, you must always keep track of your net income or "net profit" so as to know how to enhance the performance of your business.One of the essential factors in making your business successful is by creating a financial scheme and periodically checking its status against certain particulars that will pop up monthly. If certain problems are encountered, it is essential that you must solve the problems immediately. Listed below are some of the actions that you must take so that your business will run smoothly and for it to succeed eventually:Design a financial scheme. Estimate the profit that you expect to earn on a monthly basis and calculate your expenses.Also, bear in mind that the profits that you have lost can not be recovered. Once businessmen assess their estimated calculations to the actual calculations and discover that the profits are much lower than they expect it would be or the expenses are higher than projected, they would normally decide to “make it up later”. The truth is that, on each month or months when the projections are either too low or too high – low for profit and high for expenses -, that month is gone and can not be regained.Take immediate action. In an event when the profit or revenues are much lower that the projection, take immediate actions by increasing efforts in the sales and marketing aspects. Better yet, it is essential that you find means to raise your rates. Cut your overhead costs if you think that they are too high. Most of the businesses these days do that in order to become
Control of documents
Control of records
Internal Audits
Control of nonconforming product
Corrective action
Preventive action
Since the ISO 9001:2000 standard requires less documentation than previous versions of ISO 9000, there may not be as many procedures to evaluate. In this case the document review portion will be reduced. During the document review of the manual and procedures your are trying to understand the process and the system and ensure the requirements of the standard are met.
4. Identify Process Interfaces
Process interfaces are the “hand off” points from one process to another. This is where the previous process in providing an input to the audited process and the audited process is providing input to another process. How are process interfaces different from inputs and outputs? An input is the deliverable the process uses and the process interface describes how and when the deliverable is achieved. For example, an input into the purchasing process is the requirements of the purchased item. Looking at the process interface we want to understand how are the requirements delivered to the purchasing process, when are they delivered and by whom? In essence we are not looking at do the requirements exist, but are they clearly defined and understood by the process using them. We want to investigate are the requirements delivered on time and are they accurate?
On the output side, we will look at those things the purchasing process provides to other processes. Clearly one output is the purchased item on time, to specification and in the correct quantity. Another consideration is how is it moved from purchasing to receiving and inventory. There are other outputs of the purchasing process used by other processes. One could be supplier selection for the item purchased. Engineering or Quality may need to interface with the supplier and if the selection process is delayed, it could affect the design, or ability to qualify the product.
Understanding the process interfaces can lead to some audit questions concerning how smooth the hand off is between processes.
5. Identify Potential Process Failure Modes
Another tool we want to utilize is the pFMEA, which stands for “process failure modes and effects analysis. You may have some background in FMEA’s and you may not. Either way is alright because we are not going in depth in the FMEA process. An pFMEA is a method to identify potential problems with a process before the process is implemented. It is a preventive measure that aims to resolve problems before they occur. For our purposes we will be concerned with the process function, the failure mode and the cause of the failure mode. Below is an example of an pFMEA for the purchasing process:
Process Function Failure Mode Potential Cause
get good product bad product requirements not understood
supplier is not capable
not inspected enough
product on time product is late lack of capacity
ordered late
supplier out of product
low total cost too costly excessive rework
excessive freight
excessive testing
pFMEA’s are an exhaustive approach that generates a large quantity of potential audit directions. By evaluating the prospective problems associated with a process, you can develop audit questions and an audit approach to ensure the potential problems are addressed. This can lead to some findings that can have positive impact on the quality management system.
6. Value Stream Map the Process
If you really want to energize the efficiency factor of your internal audits, then conduct a value stream map. Value stream mapping is a lean manufacturing tool that aids in finding the activities in the process that are non value added. Similar to the pFMEA example we will approach this tool in an overview so it can be used but we won’t go into great detail and explicit flowcharting that a lean project might require. Lean initiatives would include takt time, inventory, etc, we will not include those for this use of the tool. For this purpose you will flowchart the process activities and look for steps that could be eliminated or reduced.
7. Review Old Audits
A key source of information to develop your audit strategy is to review old audits. Review both internal and external audits if available. Look for areas of weakness or where findings were noted and see if action has been taken and if it’s still effective. In reviewing an old audit of purchasing you find that there was a nonconformity written for the buyer not conveying to the supplier all of the requirements of the product. Based on this you may want to gear some of the audit to see how effective the process is now at conveying the requirements to the supplier.
8. Develop Audit Questions
What we want to do now in the planning process is develop some questions based on the excercises listed above.
Turtle Diagram generated questions
How are the requirements for the purchased item documented and communicated?
Who specifies a budget and who monitors it to ensure it is not exceeded?
What training has the purchasing agent received and what is scheduled?
How is inventory monitored to ensure correct purchases at the right time?
What is the measure of the process?
Who monitors it?
What are the planned results and what happens when they are not achieved?
Interface with the Standard generated questions
Is there a procedure or work instructions describing the process?
Is the purchasing process covered in the quality manual?
Does the current process reflect what is documented?
How does the purchasing agent know what their responsibilities and authorities are?
Do they know and understand the quality policy and quality objectives? What does it mean to them?
How are suppliers selected and rated? Is it effective?
How are purchased items evaluated when received?
What happens when a purchased item is received and does not meet requirements?
Who reviews the data from the purchasing process? Does the data get delivered to management?
How has the purchasing process been improved? Has it shown improvement and what is currently being done to improve it?
9. Develop Audit Plan
Up to now you have developed an understanding of the business process you will audit, you have also used various tools to identify some audit questions or paths. Now we will take this one step further and develop the audit plan. The audit plan is your playbook for the audit. If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail. This statement couldn’t be any more true than in the auditing functions. You develop the audit plan based on the questions and who you will audit.
Based on our previous work, we will develop our audit plan as follows:
Auditee: Purchasing agent
1. Explain to me how the purchasing process works?
Verify that it is consistent with whatever is documented.
Document what is said, does it match what you had perceived? If not make adjustments in your audit plan.
2. How are the requirements for the purchased item documented and communicated to you?
Pick a critical purchased part and look for evidence of requirements being specified. Are they clear and do they communicate the quantity, time frame and budget?
3. How are the requirements communicated to the supplier?
Look for records that the supplier has acknowledged the requirements or was sent them. You can also later review the incoming inspection or records relating to problems with this part, quality, delivery, quantity or price, this can be a reflection of how well they understand the requirements.
4. How are the suppliers selected?
Look for evidence they followed their process and verify the effectiveness based on complaints or issues with the product.
5. How is it verified the suppliers are capable?
Look for evidence that someone evaluated them for ability to meet the requirements. Can they produce to the specifications? Was capability studies done? Do they have the capacity?
You can continue this process to develop a larger audit plan. You can even develop questions and expected responses for other people such as engineering, quality, manufacturing, material control, etc. It depends upon the scope of the purchasing process and who is involved.
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